18 



The Florists^ Review 



Mabch 11, 191Q. 



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SEASONABLE jbt 

 Mr SUGGESTIONS 



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Bouvardia Hiunboldtii. 



To propagate the beautiful and de- 

 Ilciously scented Bouvardia Humboldtii, 

 start one or two of the old plants, 

 which have been resting since the flow- 

 ering period ended, in a brisk heat. 

 Do not give too much water at the 

 roots, but spray the tops freely. A 

 fine crop of succulent cuttings will 

 soon appear and these can be rubbed 

 oflf with a heel and easily rooted in a 

 warm cutting bench. These will make 

 nice flowering plants before fall. They 

 will not bloom as will older plants, 

 however. The finest B. Humboldtii are 

 those carried over for three or four 

 years. Root cuttings can also be used, 

 but soft shoots make plants more 

 quickly. The small-flowered red, white 

 and pink bouvardias, both single and 

 double, are best propagated by root 

 cuttings, wliich soon start in a brisk 

 bottom heat. 



Antirrhinums. 



Snapdragons in the benches are now 

 carrying an abundance of nice cuttings. 

 Propagate some of these, pot them off, 

 give one pinching and you will have 

 nice stock to sell for bedding out. 

 Have you ever realized that the im- 

 proved snapdragons, such as Nelrose, 

 Phelps' White, Silver Pink and other 

 named kinds, in addition to being 

 splendid for cutting under glass, are 

 also valuable bedders? They have 

 long been valued as such in Europe 

 and have done specially well near the 

 ocean, but farther inland they also do 

 surprisingly well and you would do 

 well to provide a good stock for your 

 customers the coming planting season. 

 Seedlings are more vigorous than cut- 

 tings and it is not too late to sow seeds 

 now to have fine plants in 3-inch pots 

 in May. There are three types of 

 snapdragons — dwarf, intermediate and 

 tall. All are purchasable in a consid- 

 erable number of colors and if good 

 seed is bought few rogues will be 

 found and the plants will come quite 

 uniform in color and height. For bed- 

 ding out I consider the intermediate 

 strain the best. You may find some 

 fine varieties you could grow to advan- 

 tage under glass. Eemember, however, 

 that cuttings from outside snapdragons 

 do not root with the ease of those 

 grown indoors. It is a good plan, there- 

 fore, to dig up carefully and pot any 

 specially promising plants, and, once 

 these are nicely established, propagate 

 from them. 



Antirrhinums can be successfully 

 flowered from November to July, no 

 matter whether they are grown in 

 benches or beds, if they are grown 

 fairly cool, averaging 45 degrees at 

 night, and are carefully watered, fed 

 aid disbudded in some measure. By 

 disbudding I mean reducing the num- 

 ber of shoots on plants which throw 

 up a heavy crop, as well as rubbing off 

 some of the shoots which ^ow on the 

 flowering stems. ' It is considerable 

 labor to rub off all these side shoots 

 and it is not altogether necessary. 



They do not seem to weaken the flower 

 spikes and, when the foliage is a little 

 scanty, somewhat improve the appear- 

 ance of the spikes. 



The sun now becomes increasingly 

 strong and plants in raised benches, 

 which have been flowering through the 

 winter, will now be carrying a heavy 

 second crop and will need an abundant 

 water supply, with an occasional top- 

 dressing or soaking of liquid manure. 

 Either half an inch of old cow manure, 

 or pulverized sheep manure mixed with 

 rather moist loam, makes an excellent 

 mulch. 



IT IS A CRASSULA. 



About ten years ago two little twigs, 

 like the sample I am sending you, were 

 given to me. I planted them and both 

 .grew quite large, now looking like 

 dwarf trees. One of them has a little 

 white flower, like sample enclosed, and 

 the bloom lasts for about three months, 

 during midwinter. Can you tell me 

 the name and habit of this plant? I 

 have at present a good many plants, 

 some quite large, but only two have 

 given a sign of blooming. Is there 

 any way in which I can tell which one 

 is going to have flowers? 



P. C. M.— Pa. 



It is one of the crassulas, probably 

 portulaca. The genus is now called 

 rochea by botanists. A thorough dry- 

 ing, keeping the plant^ full in the sun 

 for eight to ten weeks before the flow- 

 ering season, is necessary to make the 



plants flower well. Grow them in a 

 porous soil, containing broken brick, 

 broken sandstone and coarse loam. 

 When propagating it is well to let cut- 

 tings lie in the sun a couple ^f days 

 to dry well before placing in the sand. 

 There is then less liability of damping 

 off. C. W. 



SCHIZANTHUS WISETONENSIS. 



Please let me know how to grow 

 Schizanthus Wisetonensis. I have small 

 plants just out of seed boxes. Can they 

 be grown from cuttings as well as from 

 seed? J. P.— N. Y. 



This beautiful plant succeeds best in 

 a low temperature. The night tempera- 

 ture should not exceed 45 degrees. 

 Keep your plants potted on, and flower 

 in 6-inch to 8-inch pots, according to 

 how large you wish your plants to 

 grow. Give them a light but rich soil. 

 Once they are well rooted in their last 

 pots, give an abundance of water and 

 liquid manure every four or five days. 

 S. Wisetonensis is the best pot variety, 

 as it is naturally of dwarf habit. While 

 schizanthus can be propagated from 

 cuttings, not nearly as good plants are 

 obtained as by using seedlings. ' 

 C. W. 



SOME VINES FOR BOXES. 



My customers want something new 

 in blooming vines for porch boxes. 

 Will you please suggest something? 

 Any suggestion will be thankfully re- 

 ceived. J. A. S. — 111. 



The following you will find good: 

 Swainsona galegifolia, alba and rosea; 

 Maurandia Barclaiana, Abutilon Mega- 

 potamicum, Ipomoea Heavenly Blue, 

 Thunbergia alata, white, orange and 

 yellow; Cobaea scandens and Vinca 

 major variegata. The petunias and ver- 

 benas also are valuable for boxes, as 

 are Lobelia speciosa, tall nasturtiums, 

 Ficus repens and Asparagus Sprengeri. 



C. W. 



View in the Store of the Schroeter-Stahelin G>., Detroit. 



